Travel Town// A-Team

I lived in LA city-proper for 5 years and discovered very little of what it had to offer. My adventures were confined strictly to the Westwood/Santa Monica/South Bay area and it is only now that we've moved back down South to the OC that I find myself discovering LA and regretting that I didn't do it sooner. I guess it's true that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

Maybe it was because I didn't have a kid then, but I never knew Griffith Park had a little old train depot and museum hidden in it hills. We took the boys up there this weekend to hang out and to get a close-up look at the old engines. The Kid and AJT are totally into trains at the moment; like all other 3 year olds they discovered the magic of Thomas and the Island of Sodor and are now fascinated by the engines and the sounds and the locomotion. Growing up I knew that my dad and my grandpa had a special bond over train sets and now looking back I see how sweet it is to have that kind of bond with your child. Every year my dad would send my grandpa a new set and they would talk every now and then on the phone about the latest train set the latest set up my grandpa had configured. Being a girl, I never got into it, but now as I've had to learn all the parts of the train and the varying scales in order to impress my 3 year old, I've fallen in love with the romanticized notion of train travel. I can imagine the excitement of hearing the whistle as a train pulled into a station and the anticipation of voyages to new frontiers and new adventures. Honestly, I don't know who enjoyed the trip to Travel Town more, me or the kids. It was all I could do not to buy all the retro railroad pins and all the little tin trains. Definitely a place we'll return to soon.

Goals// Nashville

Randomly decided that we need to move to Nashville. Well not randomly. It took somewhat of a lot of thought and some debate as to whether we would move to Portland or Nashville. And some convincing the hubs that we should move out of L.A. in the first place.

One of my reasons to move was that I want some old-school Americana. I want some old-timey US history; Some waves of grain, purple mountain majesties, and fruited plains. Mark thought I was nuts. But I think he is finally on board. We decided to go south since together we are more country/rock and less granola/folk. Although my folky side (mark lacks one) would also be indulged in Tennessee.

There are a lot of considerations and Mark is still hesitant to move somewhere where we would truly be a minority (not sure how many Mexican Jews there are in Nashville) but I don't think that should stop us. I figure we should at least move somewhere for a year to experience what life is like outside of CA. We are still young and have a relatively young child. Plus, Nashville (really anywhere that is not NY) is so much more affordable than L.A.

If all goes well, I (Tennes)see us in Nashville by 2014.

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(coincidentally, I found The Secret Sisters in the middle of my moving debate and will forever see "Tennessee Me" as the Universe's sign pointing to the Music City. Lame, maybe, but it's my prerogative.)